No One Can Take Care of You Like Me
by Marz98
Summary: A Johanna x Katniss high school AU, because why the heck not? Johanna is a confident, popular senior and Katniss is the shy new student with the difficult home life who she sets her eyes on. Title taken from the Little Green Cars song "The Consequences of Not Sleeping". I own nothing. Please read and any reviews would be greatly appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

Johanna Mason was kind of a big deal. Not only was she popular and hot as fuck, but she was _popular and hot as fuck_. All the girls who didn't want to be on her wanted to be her, and all the boys crossed their fingers and wished that maybe she would be straight, at least for them. But she knew she wouldn't. Especially not after she saw the shy, unassuming Katniss Everdeen shakily walk into Panem high school on the first day of their senior year.

She was sat at a table with Finnick and Annie, rolling her eyes as Finnick told some undoubtedly dirty and probably mildly offensive joke. Then there she was. She was dressed plainly enough in a pair of jeans that were beginning to tear at the knees and a less than perfect leather jacket thrown over a dark grey shirt, but... didn't realize that she had been staring until Finnick waved his hand in front of her face.

"Hello? Earth to Mason?" he laughed as she swatted his hand away from her face. He sniggered and followed her gaze to the girl who was now nervously talking to the receptionist at the front office.

"See something you like?" Johanna shot him a look and with a pointed

"Fuck off." she turned her gaze to Annie.

"What?" Finnick interrupted as Johanna tried to ask Annie about how the three weeks she had spent in France near the end of the summer had gone. Johanna raised her eyebrows at Finnick's next comment

"She's cute" he said, munching on an apple which he had drawn from his bag. He gazed at the girl again before turning back to Johanna

"She doesn't really look gay though." Johanna snapped her eyes away from the girl and shot Finnick another dirty look. "How the hell does someone look gay?" she half shouted at him, drawing the attention of a few passer-by who snickered before walking away when Johanna flipped them off without even glancing to see who they were. Finnick shrugged.

"I don't know..." he continued, "you look pretty gay."

She stood up angrily at this, sending her chair flying behind her.

"You're such an ass!" she replied as she stormed away. Finnick was her best friend, and she was glad to have him in her life but at times he could be so... infuriating.

"Johanna... wait!" Finnick laugh-shouted at her, before shrugging and tossing the core of his apple into a nearby trash can with surprising accuracy. Due to her altercation with Finnick, she noted, she had now lost sight of "the girl" and hadn't even been able to catch her name. She stormed outside into the quad where kids were sprawled out over the grass, some reading or studying, (what the fuck were they studying? she wondered, it was the first day of school) but others were just talking or fiddling with their phones.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time and noted that there were about ten minutes before class was due to start. She sighed.

"Johanna!" she heard a voice call she looked up to see Gale Hawthorne bounding across the grass to her, practically stepping on some kids to get there. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Gale fucking Hawthorne was a jock, and the kind of guy who thought he could have his pick of the girls whenever he wanted. Last year, he had shown an interest in Johanna, even after she had come out, and continued to pester her about going out on a date with him.

"Johanna!" he said again as he drew closer, putting his hand over his brow in order to shield the sun out of his eyes. "How was your summer?" he asked, baring his teeth in a smile that would have had any other girl swooning.

Johanna glanced at her phone again,_ just five minutes then you can excuse yourself_. She thought, turning her attention back to Gale.

"It was fine, how was yours?" she asked in a blasé way that she hoped conveyed the sentiment of "I'm asking because it's polite, not because I actually care."

Not taking the verbal cue, Gale started rambling on about his days lifeguarding at the town pool and, disgustingly enough, the girls he had hooked up with over the summer. Johanna cut him off and rolled her eyes.

"Listen Gale, as much as I'd love to stay here and talk about the girls you fucked over the summer, I actually have a class to go to." She stood up and brushed past him, glancing at her schedule and realizing, much to her despair that she had Physics first block. She quickly walked to the room where she had physics, only glancing or raising a hand in greeting to those who shouted her name in the hallway. As she walked into the room she was more than pleased to see "the girl" sitting towards the back of the room, nervously tapping her foot and chewing lightly on the end of a pen while glancing at her schedule, which looked worried and torn at the edges._ So fucking cute_ Johanna thought as she sauntered towards the girl. She gestured to the vacant seat next to her

"Do you mind if I..?" the girl's head snapped up and the pen fell from her lips as she stared at Johanna, who raised her eyebrows, still waiting for a response.

"Oh... uh yeah. Sure." The girl said, scooting over slightly so that the other would have plenty of room to get the chair out. Johanna unceremoniously dumped her bag on the floor before sitting down.

"So. You're new here right? I'm Johanna. Johanna Mason. And you are?"

The girl nodded, still glancing at her schedule, trying to make sure for about the fiftieth time that she was in the right classroom.

"Um Katniss." she said, biting her lip as she reached down to pick up her fallen pen.

"Katniss Everdeen." she finished.

_Katniss Everdeen_. Johanna though, relishing the sound of the girl's name. _I bet the two of us are going to be good friends this year._

**_Authors Note:_** Hey guys! So what do you think? Should I continue with this story, got any ideas for what should take place in the following chapters? Let me know! I hope you guys enjoy this first chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

Johanna was pleased to find out in the first half of the day that Katniss was not only in her Physics class, but her English class as well. As she strode into the lunch room, she spotted Katniss sitting alone, her lunch sitting untouched next to her as she drew furiously in a sketchbook. She started going her way only to hear Finnick shout rudely from the other end of the lunchroom  
"Mason!" he shouted, waving both his arms over his head as some unidentifiable lunchroom substance fell from his mouth,  
"Whatever happened to bros before hoes?"  
The rest of her friends snickered and some gave Finnick high fives  
Johanna rolled her eyes before raising one finger up in a gesture that read "Give me one fucking minute okay?"  
Finnick shrugged and put his arm around Annie, whispering something (probably dirty) in her ear. Katniss still hadn't looked up from her sketchbook.  
"Hey." Johanna said, sliding into the seat next to her. Katniss hastily closed the sketchbook and returned it to her bag before nodding in recognition.  
"Do you want to come sit with us?" she said, tilting her head towards the table of her friends who were now all laughing at some story that Peeta Mellark, a shy boy whose family owned a bakery downtown, was telling animatedly.  
Katniss shook her head before furrowing her brow.  
"I know what girls like you are like, okay? So you can stop trying to fuck me over." She said, staring down at her uneaten sandwich.  
"What do you mean Katniss? I want to be friend-"  
"No you don't." Katniss stared down, her eyes filling with tears.  
"You want me to think that. You want me to get excited and come over to sit with your asshole friends before you laugh at me and insult me for thinking that someone as cool as you would ever want to be friends with a freak like me." She spat the words out venomously before standing up, collecting her bag and storming out of the lunchroom with unshed tears clouding her vision. She walked out behind the building before she let the tears fall.

Sitting in the lunchroom at the now abandoned table, Johanna thought about following her. She was wrong after all, Johanna did want to be friends at least, even if Katniss was straight and they couldn't be more. She seemed smart and passionate and like a genuinely good person. But in this situation, Johana decided as she glanced at Katniss' untouched lunch and felt a pang of guilt, it might be better to give the poor girl some space before trying to talk to her about it. Picking her way through the lunchroom, she sighed as she sank into the seat next to Finnick.  
"What? She's straight isn't she? You see I told you she didn't look-"  
Johanna cut him off by punching him in the arm before putting her face in her hands and rubbing her temples.  
"Not now, okay Finnick?"  
He nodded. He could be a rude, obnoxious jerk sometimes, but at least the boy knew when to just shut the hell up. He pulled her in for a quick hug before quietly resuming his conversation with the rest of the kids at the table. When the end of lunch pulled around, he hugged her again whispering a quick  
"Are you okay?" in her ear.  
She nodded and rubbed her eyes before heading off to suffer her way through the rest of the day.

Walking into her art class, she didn't know whether to dread the fact that Katniss was sat at the only table with a vacant seat or be excited about it. Either way, she noticed glancing around, there definitely wasn't a seat anywhere else and besides, Katniss shouldn't have to sit alone. She dumped her bag on the floor and withdrew her pencils and sketchbook wordlessly while they waited for the teacher.  
"I-" Katniss started before biting her lip and shaking her head, obviously not ready to say anything about their earlier altercation. She glanced at the clock, noting that the teacher was a few minutes late. She returned her eyes to the sketch she was doing, and Johanna's eyes followed to the drawing that she was working on which was presumably the same one she had been doing at lunch. Suddenly, the teacher swept into the room, knocking over a can of pencils as she attempted to set down her books on her already cluttered desk.

Much to Katniss' chagrin, their first assignment was naturally to draw the person sat across from them. And of course, after sauntering into class late and dumping her bag on the floor in that fucking annoying fashion, the person who had sat across from her was Johanna Mason. Katniss knew her type. She had been tormented endlessly by girls like that her whole life, especially after she had been outed at school by some girl she had drunkenly made out with at a party that she had only been invited to as a joke. Luckily her mother had never found out and they had moved to get some space after her father's death before things surrounding her homosexuality had gotten too out of hand. She was really hoping to slide under the radar and just coast through her senior year without any of the bullshit that she was accustomed to. But things at home were getting strained and she knew that if her mother found out she was gay she would be kicked out of the house before she could say-  
Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of Johanna clearing her throat.  
"Sorry. Could you just ah... turn this way a little?" she asked, lacking the bravado that Katniss had seen earlier.  
"Of course. Sorry." Katniss said, drawing herself completely out of her thoughts and focusing on the task at hand. The rest of the block flew by and before she knew it, her first day at Panem High School was over.  
She groaned internally as she noted that it was raining outside. Her mother had to work until pretty late every night, so Katniss had to walk the few miles to her house. As she went to her locker and collected her books, she noticed a presence behind her.  
"What do you want?" she snapped as Johanna leaned on the lockers next to her. Katniss slammed her locker and looked the taller girl straight in the eyes.  
"Katniss... I just want to talk, okay?" she said quietly, placing her hand gingerly on Katniss' shoulder.  
Realizing that maybe, just maybe, this girl wasn't as bad as she thought she was, Katniss nodded.  
"Okay. Yeah, we'll talk." Johanna's face lit up in a smile that was probably the most breathtaking thing that Katniss had ever seen.  
"So is someone coming to pick you up soon or can you talk now?"  
"I-uh, I was just going to walk home actually" Katniss glanced at the clock. Her mother would be working until about 9 and her little sister Prim wasn't due to be home until about 6. She had been invited to some new students gathering at her school and was supposed to get a ride home from the family who lived across the street.  
"It's raining." Johanna noted, tapping her fingers absentmindedly on the lockers.  
"Let me give you a ride home. Please?" she added as Katniss began to shake her head.  
Katniss sighed and nodded.  
"Come on then." Johanna wordlessly took some of Katniss' books from her arms before walking outside through the front doors to her rather beaten up Jeep.  
"My baby." she said as she grinned and patted the hood.

As they got in the car, Johanna ran her hands through her shoulder length dark hair, which was now soaking wet. She reached into the back and procured a stack of CDs which she handed to Katniss.  
"Pick one." she said as she started the car and backed out of the school parking lot.  
"You actually use CDs?" Katniss said accusingly.  
"Yeah. Of course. Pick one." She repeated. Katniss glanced at the stack before realizing that none of them actually had labels. She picked one randomly and slid it into the CD drive.

AN: So what do you guys think of this second chapter? It's a little short but I wanted to update as quickly as possible.  
Thanks to all who read/reviewed/followed! I appreciate all you have to say.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

They drove in silence mostly, the music that Katniss had chosen randomly playing quietly from the car speakers, only interrupted by Katniss voicing the occasional direction so that they could get back to her house to talk. Johanna would never admit such a thing, but her heart was racing as she thought about being alone with the beautiful vision of a girl that was Katniss Everdeen. Before she knew it her mind was taking her to less innocent thoughts. Katniss' perfect lips on hers. Katniss'-  
Her thoughts were cut off as her companion muttered a quick  
"Turn here." and Johanna released a breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding. They were in the less wealthy part of town now, Johanna noticed, frowning as she thought about the distance between where they were in the school.  
"Do you realize how far away from the school we are?" she asked, flicking her eyes towards Katniss in a concerned fashion.  
"Yeah. Yeah I mean, I walked there this morning. So yeah, I know."  
Katniss thought about the trek that she had taken this morning through the light drizzle that had been falling. She shuddered to think of what the walk would be like in the snow later in the year.  
"Well. It'll be a good story for my grandkids or whatever, huh? Back in my day, I had to walk four miles to school. Uphill both ways." She cracked a smile, the first one that Johanna had seen her make. It was tesne though, and it didn't quite make it to her eyes.  
She had tried to pass it off as a joke but Johanna couldn't help wondering what kind of parents this girl must have if they made her walk such a distance to and from school, especially since she was in a brand new town where she could probably pretty easily get lost. As they approached the end of the street, Katniss pointed out a small white house with no cars in the driveway and a pile of boxes haphazardly strewn across the lawn.  
"It's that one."  
Johanna turned into the driveway and they sat in the car for a minute, the only sound around them being the incessant pattering of the rain on the roof of the car.  
"There's no one home." she noted, staring through the windshield at the vacant house.  
Katniss nodded  
"My mom's at work and my little sister Prim is at some new students function."  
Johanna made a mental note at the absence of a father (another thing they had in common, it would seem), but she didn't pry.  
After another minute of silence, Katniss cleared her throat.  
"Would you like to come in then?" she stared at her hands, which were folded in her lap before rummaging around in her backpack for her house key.  
"You said you wanted to talk. So we could do that." She said, staring expectantly at Johanna.  
"In there." She added, pointing haphazardly in the direction of the house.  
"Yeah. Yeah, okay." Johanna responded, finally mustering up the courage to open the car door. The rain hadn't cleared up at all so they walked quickly to the door, Katniss fumbling slightly with the key as she attempted to get it in the lock.

As they enter the house, Katniss scrambles to try and make a path through the boxes, some opened and spilling out seemingly random objects, others still closed but with scrawled labels telling what lies within. Johanna can't help but stare at one that reads "Dad's Stuff" and is partially opened, revealing everything from clothes to a loose leaf paper with grocery lists written on it. Katniss notices her staring and takes a shaky breath, closing her eyes to keep the tears from spilling  
"Car accident." She says quietly, shaking slightly and clenching her hands into fists.  
"Oh Katniss. I'm so-" Johanna starts, only to be interrupted by Katniss continuing her explanation.  
"It was so sudden, you know? That's why we moved. We-we needed some space. My mom she-" she says, shaking her head as she finally opens her eyes.  
"It's just- we kept all his stuff. All of it. When we were packing my mom caught me trying to throw out one of those lists, and she just... she screamed at me. She won't let go. Not even of a fucking shopping list." she sounded angry now, and she was clenching and unclenching her fists as she stared venomously at the box. She ran her hand across her face to clear the few tears that had managed to escape from her eyes.  
"Sorry. I didn't mean to-" She was shaking her head again as she met Johanna's eyes. Wordlessly, the taller girl picked her way through the boxes. Apprehensively, she wrapped her arms around Katniss' shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze. For a minute, Katniss was still. Her mind was a swirling mess of this is a hug. This means she cares. Someone cares. About me. Finally, she remembered that hugs are usually a thing that you're supposed to respond to, and she carefully wrapped her arms around Johanna.

With satisfaction, Johanna was suddenly realizing that they were like 100% hug compatible. (which meant that they would probably also be kiss compatible) She smirked at the thought and almost audibly sighed when Katniss gently buried her head in her shoulder. She leaned her head down and rested her chin on top of Katniss' head. Time seemed to stop as they embraced, and when they finally relaxed out of each others arms, neither girl could pinpoint whether it had been one minute or twenty.  
"So." Katniss said, turning around and beckoning for Johanna to follow her up the stairs. She quickly led her into the farthest room to the left, entering what must have been her own bedroom. She quickly swept a pile of papers and other random objects off of the bed before climbing onto it and sitting cross legged. She patted the space next to her, beckoning for the other girl to sit as well.  
"Tell me about yourself." Katniss said suddenly after about a minute of comfortable silence.  
Johanna smiled  
"Okay. What about myself?" She inquired, toying with the edge of the blanket that was thrown across the bed.  
"I don't know? Anything." Katniss replied, picking up a piece of paper that had fallen to the floor and placing it on the desk.  
"Okay. Well. I'm Johanna. I'm 17, but I'll be 18 in two weeks." she glanced at Katniss, who was beginning to show signs of a smile.  
"I live with my mom because my dad fucked off when I was a kid and we haven't heard from him in years. My favorite color is green because it reminds me of the forest. I love the smell of rain. Finnick Odair is my best friend, but I can't stand him half the time. When I came out to my mom last year she made a cake." She said this last part in a rush, then glanced at Katniss, waiting for a reaction. A smile was spreading across her face.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and follows and stuff! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. (sorry to leave you on kind of a cliffhanger!) You should all give a listen to this Johanna fanmix I made that I posted on my tumblr!  
courfeyrabbit . tumblr post/68696155894/listen-here  
anyways, I'll try to update as soon as possible. Reviews/Follows etc are greatly appreciated


	4. Chapter 4

Paste your document here...Chapter 4  
"You like me." She said, poking Johanna softly on the arm.  
"That depends." Johanna replied, suddenly incredibly interested in her untied shoelace.  
"Depends on what?" Katniss asked, cocking her head to the side slightly, a smirk plastered to her face.  
Johanna sat up, no longer preoccupied with her shoe.  
"If you like me back."  
Katniss opened her mouth as if to reply, only to be interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing.  
"Shit it's my sister. She's home early." She says, glancing out the window. She glances apologizingly at Johanna before continuing.  
"Listen I... Can we talk about this tomorrow?" She says, as the doorbell is rung again. She makes her way to the door, glancing over shoulder to make sure the other girl was following.  
"Let me just let my sister in, and then we can decide where to meet up?" Katniss said, quickly descending the stairs with another quick glance over her shoulder. As she opens the door, a small blonde girl, maybe 12 or 13 comes bounding in and starts talking immediately.  
"Hey Katnip. How was your first day of school? Mine was really good. I met a lot of new people, well obviously I did since it was a new school, and all my teachers seem pretty nice and this group of girls let me sit with them at lunch and... who's that?" She says, finally acknowledging Johanna's existence.  
Katniss opens her mouth to speak but Johanna beats her to it.  
"I'm Johanna. Your sister and I met at school today. I uh... gave her a ride home but I'll get going now." She says with a small smile and a glance at Katniss, who nods.  
"Okay. I'll just give you my phone number. Can you meet me behind the school tomorrow? After class?"  
Johanna nods as Katniss scrawls her phone number on a spare sheet of paper.  
She has it memorized before she gets home.

School the next day goes by in a haze for Johanna. She sees Katniss and talks to her during all the classes they have together, but they all fall within the first few blocks of the day, so by the time lunch rolls around she's eager to search for her. But as she scanned the lunchroom for probably the fifth or sixth time, she realizes that Katniss was nowhere to be found. Resigning to the fact that she must have had lunch at a different time that day, she goes and sits by the rest of her friends. She knows Katniss isn't there, but as she picks at a sandwich she can't help but look up expectantly every time she hears the lunchroom doors open. But it's never Katniss and she's beginning to feel ridiculous and honestly, pretty pathetic as she looks up for probably the fifteenth time only to see a scrawny boy with glasses hurry through the doors. She sighs and tries to tune into the conversation around her, but her thoughts keep going back to Katniss. Finally, lunch ends and she hurries her way through her final classes, silently pleading with the clock to go faster because she was going to talk with Katniss after school and Katniss knew she liked her and maybe, just maybe, she liked her back.

When the last bell rang, Johanna practically ran to get to the spot where the pair had agreed to meet. It was raining again, and she didn't have an umbrella but she didn't mind. Katniss wasn't there when she arrived, and while she was slightly disappointed at not getting to see the other girl right away, she figured she would appear in a minute or two. But a minute passed, then five, then ten and Katniss still wasn't there. Maybe it had all been a trick. Maybe the seemingly shy, innocent girl was just like half of the other girls at the school and was just a complete bitch. Just as Johanna was about to just up and leave, her phone buzzed. Katniss. She thought as she opened the phone and pressed it to her ear.  
"Nice of you to call." She snapped into the phone, surprising herself with the level of harshness.  
"Johanna." the voice on the other end of the line said shakily, quietly. Immediately the other girl felt terrible for the way she had harshly answered the phone and tried to apologize, only to be cut off.  
"I'm really sorry I didn't show up. I'm on my way okay? It's just- my mom had a bit of a breakdown and I had to go help her and then she got mad at me and she started yelling and... I'll be there in a couple of minutes okay?" Katniss spoke timidly and she sounded like she was about to cry.  
Johanna nodded but voiced her response verbally after a second.  
"I'm not mad, okay? I wish you had called a little earlier. But I'm not mad. I'll see you in a minute though. We can- we don't have to talk about what happened yesterday. We can talk about whatever you want."  
Johanna heard Katniss choke back a sob over the phone and her heart broke as she clutched the phone tightly to her ear.  
"O-okay. See you soon." Katniss said before the line went dead.

But more than a few minutes passed and there was still no sign of the small brunette. Johanna stood up and decided to walk around to the side of the school to see if there was any sign of the other girl. As she turned the corner, her stomach dropped as she saw the schools resident bully, Cato, and his three cronies kicking at something-no someone, who was curled in a ball on the ground.  
A shout tore itself from her throat as she ran towards the now hastily retreating group.  
"Katniss!" she shouted, dropping to her knees next to the girl who was now shivering violently as sobs wracked her body. There was blood running down her face from a split lip and a bloody nose and signs of a black eye were beginning to show.  
She wrapped her arms protectively around the shorter girl, whispering in her ear and cradling her as she sobbed heavily into her shoulder. They stayed like that for a while, clutching at each other as the rain poured down around them. Katniss finally pulled back, casting her eyes down at the ground.  
"I'm sorry." she said quietly, casting her eyes quickly up at Johanna's face.  
Johanna tugged her sleeve over her hand and pressed it onto the other girl's freely bleeding nose as she looked into her eyes.  
"You have nothing to be sorry about, okay? I don't ever want to hear you apologize again for something that isn't your fault."  
Katniss nodded but winced as Johanna pressed her finger to the bruising skin around her left eye.  
"Now let's get you to my house, okay? I'll help you clean up and we can talk like we were supposed to." She quickly hugged the smaller girl again before standing up and offering her a hand. Johanna let the other girl lean on her as she led them to her car. They were both soaking wet and sure, there could have been better circumstances, but she was happy just to have the other girl wrapped in her arms and needing her. She hadn't felt like somebody really needed her for a long time and she had to admit that it wasn't a bad feeling. Not at all.

A/N: Thank you all so much for all the follows etc.! I wish I could update like 20 times a day for you guys but unfortunately I have to like go to school or something. I know my chapters are like pretty short(ish) but I want to update at least like every two days or so and the only way I can is by keeping stuff short. aLsO I'm courfeyrabbit on tumblr and you should all come talk to me about this ship (or this fic if you want b/c lol i'm not really sure where this is going) because this ship is my lifeblood i s2g


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

They drive to Johanna's house in near silence, neither of them really being able to think of the right thing to say. Johanna wants to ask Katniss if she's okay, but she knows she's not, and she also knows that she would say she was. She glances over at Katniss, noting the bruising that's starting to blossom over her jaw. The other girl stares vacantly out the windshield, a napkin from a fast food restaurant pressed to her nose, which is still freely bleeding. The rain patters on the roof of the car, making an irritating, tinny noise, but anything is better than the complete silence that would fall if the rain were to stop. The silence isn't unwelcome though, because both girls are thinking too much for words and there's something comforting in knowing that they can exist in silence and have it not be uncomfortable.  
Johanna shifts uncomfortably as her damp skin sticks uncomfortably to the plastic of the seat. Her hands grip the steering wheel anxiously as she turns into her driveway, noting with some relief that her mother is not yet home from work. It's not like her mother would be unsupportive of Johanna bringing a girl home, but the relationship between the two girls is confusing and Johanna's mother can be a bit pushy, so the girl is silently glad that she can bring Katniss into the home without having her be bombarded by her mother's pestering questions.  
Realizing that they've probably been sitting in the car for a good minute, Johanna pulls herself out of her thoughts and releases her vise-like grip on the steering wheel.  
"Here we are." She turns to Katniss and gives her a small smile before jumping out of the car and rounding the side of it to open the door for the other girl, taking her hand in hers as she steps shakily out of the old Jeep. She can't help but notice at the the way Katniss tenses up slightly when she touches her hand but she relaxes after a second. Swiftly unlocking the door and making her way into the house, Johanna leads Katniss to the bathroom where she sits her down on the edge of the tub. It takes a minute or two of rummaging around in the bathroom closet, but Johanna finds a washcloth and a bottle of painkillers which she places on the counter before getting a box of tissues and handing them to Katniss.  
"Tilt your head back. And pinch your nose, like this." She says, demonstrating by pinching the bridge of her own nose between her thumb and forefinger. She lets go and places a hand affectionately on Katniss' knee. She wordlessly hands her the painkillers as she wets the washcloth with warm water. Katniss removes the tissue from her nose which, much to Johanna's relief, has finally stopped bleeding. Tentatively and with as much gentleness and compassion as she can muster, Johanna lifts the washcloth to the shorter girl's face, carefully wiping away the blood that has dried on her face and feeling her heart break every time that the other girl winces at her touch. She looks into Katniss' eyes and sees that they are beginning to fill with tears. Johanna places the washcloth on the sink gently before carefully grabbing Katniss' chin and staring at the bruises that were beginning to form. She was furious at the assholes who had done this. Katniss certainly hadn't done anything to them, and they were beating her up for what? For being new? For being shy? Johanna felt a fury boiling just under the surface of her skin, and she could tell it was showing externally when Katniss timidly looked her in the eyes and spoke in a quiet voice  
"You don't have to be angry at them, you know. I'm used to it."  
And there she was, this beautiful, perfect girl who Johanna was pretty sure she was capable of falling in love with, saying that she was used to getting pushed around. Johanna thought back to their conversation in the lunchroom, realizing in that moment all the shit that Katniss must have gone through in the past few years. When people treat her nicely she treats it as a threat, when people treat her like shit... she just accepts it. Johanna doesn't understand how people could be so cruel to a girl who just seems like she's trying so hard to be who she wants to be. Before she can think about it further, she wraps her arms protectively around Katniss' shoulders, and she's whispering in her ear  
"No one's going to hurt you again. Not on my watch."  
And she's only known this girl two fucking days but suddenly it feels like they're just something inevitable. They never talked about whether Katniss had feelings for Johanna, but in that moment she finally knows because Katniss is leaning out of the hug and suddenly her lips are pressed tentatively against Johanna's and she tastes blood as the other girl kisses her gently but her lips are soft and it just feels right. As quickly as it begins, the kiss is over because Katniss' lip is wounded and she's thinking about how it went last time she kissed a girl and her mind is a swirling mess but they still embrace, Johanna's arms returning to their former place around her middle as their bodies, still wet from the rain, hold each other in the silence of the bathroom. After a minute, Johanna lets go and quietly speaks for the first time in what feels like hours  
"Do you want to go change into some dry clothes? I can get you some ice for your face and we can... I don't know? Just watch a movie or something?"  
It's a Friday so Johanna assumes the other girl doesn't have any schoolwork to do, and she's really hoping that they can just hang out.  
Katniss nods and they go upstairs to Johanna's room, where the taller girl lets Katniss borrow a band t-shirt and some sweatpants which are comically large on Katniss' smaller frame and have to be rolled up a few times to prevent her feet from being swallowed completely by the fabric.  
In the end, they decide to watch some silly rom-com that neither of them are really into. They sit very close to each other on the couch and Katniss presses the ice to her wounded face as they both attempt to get into the painfully boring heterosexual romance that's being played out in the movie. Johanna silently smirks as she thinks about how much more interesting a love story about the two of them would be. And she knows that they're not even an item, but it feels like she could really spend her days with this girl. She can't place what it is about her but she just makes Johanna's heart feel like it might just burst out of her chest every time they share a smile or she feels Katniss lightly brush her fingers against her own under the blanket which they share. Before she knows it, Katniss' head is rested lightly against her shoulder and her arm instinctively goes around the other girl. She grins when she hears light snoring coming from the other girl and she leans her own head back to rest as well. For just a second, lying there with a beautiful girl asleep on her shoulder, Johanna isn't thinking about how they'll have to go to school on Monday or about how they still have to figure out their feelings for each other because for a second, everything is somehow perfect.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I am super thankful for every review and follow and favorite I get, so thank you all for reading because it really motivates me to write more when I feel like you guys are waiting. 33


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6.

They're both woken abruptly by the sound of Johanna's mother noisily answering the house.  
"Johanna! I'm home!" she hollers as Johanna hears her mother dumping her purse on the kitchen table, the clanking sound of her keys hitting the table making her wince slightly as she opens her sleepy eyes.  
"I'm in the living room!" she shouts back hoarsely, glancing at Katniss who is now rubbing the sleep out of her swollen eye. Johanna frowns as she inspects the girl's bruised face. Suddenly aware of her mother's presence, she turns as the older woman clears her throat.  
"Who's this then?" she asks as she removes her coat and drapes it carefully over the back of the couch.  
"Mom. This is Katniss. Katniss... this is my mom."  
The other girl smiles and extends her hand in greeting to the older woman.  
"Nice to meet you Ms. Mason." she says with a smile as she sits up fully and smooths down her hair.  
The older woman smiles, finally releasing the young brunette's hand.  
"It's nice to meet you as well, dear. And please, call me Sarah, Ms. Mason is my mother." she laughs as Johanna rolls her eyes, swinging her legs over the side of the couch.  
"Well mother, it's getting to be about dinner time. I should probably take Katniss home."  
Her mother nods and gives her daughter a small smile that seems to say okay but don't think you're getting out of a discussion about this, and Johanna affectionately rolls her eyes, secretly glad to have a mother who's so okay about her sexuality.

The car ride back to Katniss' house is mostly silent again. They put on some music and Johanna sings along quietly and drums her fingers on the steering wheel. The rain has cleared up by that point and it's uncharacteristically chilly for the beginning of September. When they reach Katniss' house, they embrace quickly before Katniss thanks her for everything and disappears into the house. On the drive home, Johanna thinks about how much she cares about this girl, and how she doesn't think she'll ever be able to let her go.

When she gets home, her mother is sitting on the couch, two cups of coffee sitting on the table in front of her. She pats the couch next to her, summoning for her daughter to sit by her and handing her one of the cups of coffee as she does.  
"So, how did you meet this girl?" she says quietly, turning to face her daughter, who shrugs.  
"At school yesterday. She's new."  
Her mother nods before continuing.  
"So are you two dating or... just friends?"  
Johanna rolls her eyes again before setting the warm cup down on the table and answering.  
"More than friends, definitely." She says, thinking back to their earlier kiss.  
"But not dating, exactly. I mean, we barely know each other and we haven't exactly gotten the chance to go on a proper date. We're hanging out tomorrow though, we might catch a movie or something." She says nonchalantly, giving her mother another quick glance before staring back into her cup of coffee. She stands up abruptly, clearing her throat and telling her mother that she has homework, which is a blatant lie, and they both know it. As she sits in her room, trying to read a book her thoughts keep trailing back to the same thing. I have a date with Katniss Everdeen tomorrow. We're going on a real date.

Johanna picks Katniss up the next evening around 7:30. They drive to a local movie theatre and decide on some new action film that everyone says is supposed to be quite good. Johanna doesn't pay attention to the movie because she's too busy staring at Katniss hands. One is sitting on her thigh as she taps her fingers on it, obviously not too enthralled by the plot of the movie, but the other one is just sitting on the armrest, practically begging to be held. The internal struggle that goes through Johanna's mind before she tentatively takes the other girl's hand is unreal. She doesn't want to be too forward, but then again, she's already kissed this girl and she is pretty sure Katniss has feelings for her so why not just take her damn hand? Johanna chastises herself as she wraps her fingers around Katniss' slightly smaller hand, releasing the breath she was holding as the other girl turns to her and smiles radiantly. The rest of the movie passes in a blur because she's hyper-aware of the way Katniss palms are sweaty, but not uncomfortably so, and how every once in a while her leg relaxes and their knees touch in the dark of the movie theatre. When the film is finally over, Johanna doesn't have any idea what it was even about, but she knows she had a great night anyways. They kiss chastely in the car outside Katniss' house and Johanna drives home feeling like she's on top of the world.

The next couple of weeks pass without any real event. The two girls grow closer and by the end of the month Johanna is holding Katniss' hand in the halls at school and referring to her as her girlfriend whenever the opportunity arises that she can. They hang out at Johanna's mostly, and while the girl doesn't pry, she figures out by the small comments Katniss makes sometimes about how she wishes she had a mother who was as supportive as Johanna's that Katniss' mother isn't exactly open to the idea of her daughter being gay. They're stretched out on the taller girl's bed one day, facing each other while Johanna strokes Katniss' hair when she finally gets up the nerve to ask.  
"Why haven't I ever met your mother?" she asks, noticing how Katniss tenses up at the mention of her mom.  
She rolls into a sitting position and glances out the window silently for a second before answering.  
"I don't know." she says, toying with the sleeves of her sweater before continuing with a venom that Johanna has only heard from the girl on one or two occasions.  
"Maybe because she's a homophobic bitch?" Katniss answers, and Johanna sits up and wraps her arm around her girlfriend as she notices that her eyes are filling with tears.  
"I'm sorry, Kat, I shouldn't have brought it up." She says, pulling her sleeve over her hand and wiping the tears from her girlfriends face.  
Katniss buries her face in the other girl's shoulders and Johanna rubs soothing circles on her lower back as Katniss quietly speaks again.  
"She's not a bitch. Not really. It-it just sucks, you know? I mean, she doesn't know that I'm gay. But the way she talks about people who are... it's awful. She uses every bad name in the book for people like us, and if she found out that I'm gay...I'm pretty sure she'd kick me out of the house. And it's not like she's a bad person or anything she just... She was raised very religiously, you know? And when something like that is hammered into your head all your life..." Katniss shrugs and looks up into her girlfriend's eyes. Johanna nods carefully, pulling Katniss in for another embrace.  
"It's okay. We don't have to talk about your mom anymore, yeah?"  
Katniss nods and they fall back into a lying down position, their hands intertwined as Katniss stares thoughtfully at the ceiling.  
"I think your mom is supportive enough for the both of us." She says, turning to her girlfriend with a smile that the other girl returns.  
"Yeah." Johanna says, squeezing her girlfriend's hand.  
"I think you're right."

A/N: Thank you all so much for the amazing support! It really motivates me so much when all of you guys tell me that you like the story, so thank you for all the reviews! I hope you're enjoying reading this. Thanks so much. (p.s. the invitation is still open to come talk to me at courfeyrabbit on tumblr because i have a lot of feelings about this ship and nobody to talk to about it r.i.p.)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7.

Halloween came and went without any huge drama or recognition. Finnick threw a Halloween party that the girls attended dressed in matching costumes, and they both got pretty drunk and ended up sleeping on the couch. As the days ticked on, Johanna couldn't help but think that things were just going too perfectly. They were happy together and were thinking about colleges, eventually deciding that they would both only apply to ones in the same area. Everything was perfect for the first time in Katniss' life. She still got upset over her father's death sometimes, naturally, and she had to endure her mother at home but she had a girl who she loved and she was truly and undeniably happy for the first time in years. About two weeks before Thanksgiving, everything changed.

It was a Friday afternoon, and Johanna was giving her girlfriend a ride home from school due to the chilly November rain that was annoyingly pouring down and turning the whole town a dull grey. It had been a particularly rainy fall, but neither girl had minded. The reasoning behind this was that when it rained, Johanna had an excuse to give her girlfriend a ride home. When it was nice out, Katniss always seemed to feel some dumb obligation to take the near hour walk from her home to the schoool, which was kind of ridiculous. Johanna waited in the driveway while she waited to see if her girlfriend made it inside. At the door, Katniss paused and picked up a piece of paper which was placed on the ground next to the door. Seeing her girlfriend's mouth open up in shock Johanna immediately got out of the car, only to see Katniss crumple up the piece of paper and sprint off into the woods behind her house, her arms wrapped protectively around her middle. Pausing for a minute to read the offending piece of paper, Johanna then ran as fast as she could after Katniss.  
This is bad she thinks, this is really fucking bad. When she finally catches up with the other girl, she's shaking and soaking wet, breathing heavily as she cries. Johanna sits down next to her, unsure of what to say.  
After a minute, Katniss speaks.  
"Why would she do that?"  
Johanna shook her head, thinking back to the harsh words Katniss' mother had used in her note.  
I won't have any queers under this roof. I've put all your things on the back porch. When you realize that this is all just a dumb phase, feel free to come back. Until then do not pollute my home with your presence.  
It went on but that was all Johanna had needed to read before she came sprinting after her girlfriend.  
"I'm still her daughter." Katniss croaked, balling her hands up into fists as she shook from the cold and from the anger she felt towards her mother.  
Johanna put her arms around the other girl.  
"I'm so sorry." she coughed out, spitting the rain from her mouth. She began to cry as well.

After a while, the girls both collected themselves enough to stand up, go back to the Everdeen's and collect Katniss' things from the porch. They piled them into the back of Johanna's car and drove quietly to Johanna's house. They were about halfway there when Katniss spoke.  
"Will your mom mind, do you think? If I stay with you guys?"  
Johanna shrugged.  
"I doubt it. I mean, you haven't really got any where else to go."  
She turned her head to her girlfriend briefly and smiled.  
"Besides," she continued, "my mom loves you."  
Katniss returned the smile through the tears which were still falling steadily from her eyes. Johanna took one hand off the wheel to brush them away.  
"It's okay." she said softly.  
"Everything's going to be alright baby."  
Katniss nodded and sniffled slightly.  
"I know. I was miserable at home anyways. It's just that I can't believe she would actually do this. I'm her fucking daughter, you know? She's supposed to care about me."  
Johanna thought for a moment and focused on the road before replying.  
"She cares about you. In her own twisted way, I guess she's trying to help you, right? Just because the way she cares is by being a homophobic asshole doesn't mean she doesn't care about you."  
Katniss shook her head and shrugged.  
"I guess so. I just don't understand why she thinks something is wrong with me. My dad knew. I told him because I was getting shit about it at school, and he didn't mind. He still loved me."  
She was silent for a moment before continuing.  
"I used to think maybe if my dad were still around he'd be able to convince her. Maybe he would have been able to. But I kind of doubt it. I mean, he never would have let her kick me out but like, she would have treated me like shit. She always has."  
As they pulled into the driveway of Johanna's house, she noted the absence of her mother and breathed a sigh of relief. Finally she replied to Katniss' earlier comment, while opening the door and gesturing for Katniss to follow her inside.  
"Well I think that is bullshit. I don't see how anybody could ever treat you like shit. You're too damn cute."  
Katniss smiled a small smile as she removed her wet jacket and shoes. She tried to reply but started choking up again, so Johanna pulled her into a light kiss.  
"Let's go have a good cry, huh? I'll let you be the little spoon. You can wear my pajamas."  
Katniss sniffled and followed her girlfriend upstairs. They changed out of their wet clothes and settled into the bed.  
Katniss buried her face in Johanna's shoulder and just cried. Johanna whispered sweet things in her ear and rubbed soothing circles on her back as her girlfriend's body convulsed with sobs. Eventually, all cried out and feeling exhausted, Katniss fell asleep in Johanna's arms. When her girlfriend awoke a few hours later, Johanna had already spoken with her mother about Katniss' situation and had cleared a space for her girlfriend's things in the closet.  
As Katniss sleepily rubbed her eyes and gave a small yawn, Johanna smiled.  
"I love you, you know that, right?" she said, walking over and kissing Katniss lightly on the lips.  
"I know. I love you too." the shorter girl replied, wrapping her arms around Johanna's middle.  
And maybe everything wasn't going to be perfect. Maybe things would always have to be a little bit fucked up. But they loved each other and for now, everything was settled enough, and fucked up or not, they both knew that their lives would be nothing without the other.

A/N: Sorry for the bit of a wait, I had like serious writer's block. Anyways, I created a small sideblog to channel all of my johanna mason/ joniss feelings at mason-johannas on tumblr, and I post some one-shots and things over there, so if you want to give me prompts for one shots, you can do it on that blog. Thanks for reading! 33


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